Archive for the ‘Rosemount’

According to a report from reader Greg, the location which used to house Blondie’s Tavern along MN-3 in Farmington is soon going to be a Ground Round (September 2013).

Obviously Farmington’s plans to hire a $30,000 marketing consultant is even more successful than they thought because before they could even get started it is already working! Farmington is going to be getting one of the world’s most well known chains! Even Burnsville used to have a Ground Round 10 years ago before it was replaced by a restaurant serving root beer ketchup! We’re talking Burnsville 10 years ago people; this is really big news for Farmington! Seriously, Burnsville had a K-mart. A K-mart! Imagine the possibilities if K-mart came to Farmington. Yes, it’s really that big of a deal!

If you’re not quite convinced yet at how successful the Ground Round in Farmington will be, just check out the menu. I don’t even want you to look at the names or descriptions even though a sandwich named ‘Steak Bomb’ just sounds so tempting. Just look over the pictures on the menu, especially the one circulating at the top of the menu page. I mean, gorgeous golden frozen french fries, well-done meats avoiding all that juicy and runny mess, pale shrimp which would be devoid of that terrible shrimp flavor? WHAT IS THERE NOT TO LOVE ABOUT THIS COMING TO FARMINGTON?

People, when Ground Round arrives in Farmington you can bet your first born that I will be waiting in the line which will wrap all the way into their foyer from the hostess’ podium to be one of the first to be served the wonders which lie on its menu. I mean why would I ever go to another local Mexican restaurant in the area when I can get Tex Mex at the Ground Round?! THIS IS A NO-BRAINER!

What do you think about the Ground Round coming to Farmington? Are you as excited as I am? What is your favorite menu item on a restaurant which would bring Farmington to Burnsville 10 years ago? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on below as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

According to this StarTribune article, Rosemount is looking to add 10 rest stops around the city’s sidewalks and bike paths in order to aid an aging population. The mayor believes this is a necessity and the city feels it will give a great view of the outdoors while people do. The budget for the 10 stops is $50,000 but the city is doing everything it can to keep the costs down.

From the article:

“In the last two or three years, on some of our heavily used trails, I’ve noticed some people sitting on a power box because we don’t have any place for anyone to take a rest while they’re walking,” said Rosemount Mayor Bill Droste. “When you build trails, especially when you can go a couple miles, you should have places that a resident shouldn’t have to climb up on an electrical power box and sit there for a break.”

The city set a target budget of $50,000 for the project, which will include 10 cutout areas, each one different from the next. Many will be placed in gravel instead of a more expensive material.

“It’s unlikely that any two of the sites would have exactly the same cost because they’re all going to be slightly different, depending upon what that particular site needs,” said Tom Schuster, Rosemount parks supervisor. But, he added, “We’re not going to go overboard on any of them.”

Unfortunately for Rosemount, just the idea of adding these is going overboard. There is no need to spend $50,000 on trails and sidewalks and people are quite capable of finding their own seating when they need it. While the city is keeping the costs down by not going for more expensive materials and is stretching the building out over several years, they should have instead opted to do nothing at all. While the mayor believes this will help adoption of trail use, all it will do is create more upkeep costs in the future.

What do you think about this one? Are you not using bike paths or sidewalks because there is no where for you to sit? Do you believe that Rosemount has an aging population and this $50,000 expenditure is necessary? Do you find it ironic that that the city claims they’re keeping the costs low while they build out the 10 rest stops? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Mikeh has offered to post the reviews he’s been writing on local theaters on the site over the remainder of the summer. This is the second posted this week and the rest will come up as he completes them. Enjoy!

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In an effort to see what else is out there and get out of my movie theater rut of just going to the Lakeville 21 all the time, I decided I need to experience a few other theaters out there. Last time I visited the Apple Valley Carmike 15.

On Saturday June 29th I visited the Marcus Rosemount Cinema in Rosemount, MN with my wife to see the movie The Heat. at the 4:10pm showing. This theater does not have a “premium” large screen so we saw the movie on whatever is their typical screen size, and no big screen surcharge!

Ticket Purchase and Lobby – Ticket price was $5.00 per ticket (matinee price). You can pre-order via Movietickets.com (there is a surcharge) or get the tickets at the gate. We paid for our ticket near the entrance and they also ripped our ticket when we purchased it. I don’t know if that is what they normally do or not. Prices for the refreshments seemed in line with what I had come to expect thus far. Prices on their board do not include taxes which is personally a little irritating if you are seeing a movie on a budget. I was shocked that this theater doesn’t have Coke products, they are a Pepsi shop! My wife giggled and said she wouldn’t need that diet Pepsi she smuggled in. Drinks and Popcorn come in small, medium, and large and Large Pop and Large Popcorn can be refilled only once. It’s nice to see as not all theaters allow refills. The sizes appear to be about the same as what is available at the Lakeville 21. A large popcorn is easily enough for 2 people through a full 2 hour movie, assuming one of the two (me) doesn’t spill out ¼ of the popcorn before the previews are even done.

The interior layout of this theater reminds me to theaters of my youth. All the concessions were along one wall. There was an open area for people to mill about. Against the opposite wall of concessions was a row of video game machines, and then a roped off area for birthday parties. Other than the feeling a bit cluttered, due to all the displays for various candy they sell (it seems like they had a much larger selection than I’ve seen other places) the lobby was inviting and very open and bright. To enter the theater you walk down a hallway, and take a left or a right depending on your theater. You should know the number of the theater because there are no signs directing you by movie, though they do have the movie name on the wall next to the door to the theater. When walking to our theater which was at the end of one of the halls, I noticed something different about this theater. The hallways were brightly lit, something that isn’t typical at theaters. All the other theaters I’ve gone to the hallways are darker. The bright light allowed you to see everything very clear and gave the feeling of visiting a friend in their upscale apartment building.

Theater Impressions – We arrived in the theater at 3:45 for an 4:10 movie (got there faster than I expected). Even though we hadn’t seen many other people when we arrived and got our concessions, it was surprising to see there were already quite a few people in the theater (5 or 6 couples). I was starting to think that we were all that would show up but about 5 minutes before show time the place started filling up and pretty soon the choice sets were full (minnesota full, where everyone needs a one seat buffer between your group and the other group). Lighting was more typical in the theater than the experience last time in the Carmike Big D. You can find your way o.k. but definately dimmer for walking around. Seats were fabric covered standard back height (no high back) and they recline. They actually recline so much that my wife found her feet dangling and had to put them on the back of the seat in front of her to be comfortable. I could see leaning back that far in the first 5 or 6 rows of the theater, but we were about 5 rows from the top.

The standard package of pre-show stuff wrapped up right at 4:10 and by 4:11 the ads for Marcus theater and the previews started. During that time the lights were not yet dimmed fully so people were still moving in and out of the theater (at least one guy was getting a popcorn refill). Then the lights dimmed and the movie started which was about 4:27. Nothing like the late start at the Carmike Big D. During the movie the experience was fine overall. They like many other theaters use DLP digital projectors. No film at this theater, like many others these days. It is amazing how fast that switch happened. Picture quality was good, and plenty bright. Sound was pretty good, though this movie didn’t really exercise it that much. Screen size was typical stadium seating movie screen size. When you walk in you go down hill to the base of the screen and then back up stairs into seats.

Likes:

Good popcorn tasted just like the Lakeville 21, and the large size seemed to be the same size.
One free refill on large. – I refill after the movie and bring it home.
My wife would go to this theater again.

Dislikes:

During quiet times during our film twice I heard sound from an adjoining theater.
Concession Prices are without tax included.
Seats may lean back a bit too far for some (those under 5’10”)

The follow is a list of prices I noted. Ticket prices vary by show time and are available on their website. The concession prices do not include tax.

Have you been to The Marcus Rosemount Theater? If so what did you think about it? Are you surprised the concession prices don’t include tax as they seem to do at other theaters? Would you be annoyed hearing the sounds from other nearby theaters when your movie was quiet? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as we’d love to hear what you have to say.

It’s been about exactly a year since our last visit to Giuseppe’s in Rosemount and while I remember it being better last time and certainly better when we tried their original location in Burnsville many years ago, it was still decent and cheap–oh, and the bread was still stellar.

Have you been to Giuseppe’s in Rosemount? If so what did you think? Where else in Rosemount do you like to eat? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.